This invention relates to an ice hockey stick of an improved shape which improves handling and control of the stick during game action.
Conventionally ice hockey sticks have included an elongate straight shaft which attaches to a blade at the lower end projecting outwardly to one side of the shaft. The shaft is straight from the blade up to a butt end. The shaft is arranged at an angle of the order of 70 degrees relative to a generally flat bottom edge of the blade so that with the bottom edge on the ice, the player has the shaft inclined toward him or her. The shape of stick has been used widely for many years and has been accepted as the desirable optimum. Such sticks can be formed with the shaft of laminated wood or of a hollow tubular structure.
However it is believed that improvements can be made to the shape of the hockey stick to assist the user.
Canadian Patent No. 1,222,265 of Gibbons issued May 26, 1987 discloses what he calls an Angular Hockey Stick Grip which attaches to the end of a conventional hockey stick. The angular grip of Gibbons has a hollow tubular portion or sleeve which slides over the end of the conventional stick and includes a straight hand grip portion canted relative to the tubular portion and thus to the length of the straight shaft at a fixed angle of the order of 45 degrees. This arrangement forms a rib around the shaft at the junction between the shaft and the sleeve which interferes with the movement of the player""s hand along the shaft during play. Also the fixed straight handle portion provides only a single angle which cannot adjust to the wrist, hand or arm angle of the player during play therefore the grip does not conform to the contours of the player""s hand. The grip is molded from a plastics material so that it makes the butt end of the stick bulky so the feeling of holding a real stick is lost. There is a sharp change in direction at the junction between the handle portion and the main part of the shaft. This arrangement has not been adopted in practice.
Canadian patent 273,438 of McKenzie issued Aug. 30, 1927 discloses a stick in which there is a change of direction approximately half way up the shaft so that the part of the stick held by the hands of the player has an imaginary extrapolation intersecting the blade approximately at its mid point. This arrangement has not been adopted in practice.
It is one object of the present invention, therefore to provide an improved ice hockey stick.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided an ice hockey stick comprising:
an elongate handle having a generally straight main shaft portion extending from a lower end toward the upper end and defining a generally straight line of the main portion;
a blade on the handle at the lower end so as to project outwardly to one side of the straight line, the blade having a bottom edge arranged at an angle of less than 90 degrees to the shaft portion;
the handle having a curved portion of the handle at its upper end which is continuously and smoothly curved from the straight line of the main shaft portion such that a butt end of the curved portion is offset to one side of the line of the main portion in a direction generally opposite to that of the blade.
Preferably an imaginary line from the butt end to a junction between the curved portion and the main portion defines an angle less than 45 degrees to the straight line.
Preferably the angle is of the order of 30 degrees.
Preferably the junction between the curved portion and the main shaft portion is smooth allowing a hand of the player to smoothly slide from one to the other.
Preferably the curved portion has an outer surface which is flush with an outer surface of the main shaft portion so as to avoid shoulders on the outside surface of the stick which would interfere with smooth sliding of the hand of the player along the handle from the butt end to the main shaft portion.
Preferably the curved portion has a length less than 9 inches.
Preferably the curved portion has a length lying in the range 4 to 6 inches.
Preferably the main shaft portion comprises a hollow tube and wherein the curved portion comprises a handle portion and a stub shaft portion where the stub shaft portion can be inserted into the hollow tube and the handle portion has an outer surface which is smoothly contiguous with an outer surface of the shaft portion.
Thus improvements can be made to the shape of the hockey stick to assist the user. The butt end of the hockey stick can be curved to give the user a comfortable feel and a natural feel. The bent end will give a better range of movement with the wrist at a more related position and a larger control area with more blade on the ice which leads to better control and feel of the puck. The bent end allows the player to utilise the same shot and technique as the conventional stick and allows the player to vary his or her lie of the blade to a more effective position. It also allows the player to put more pressure on the shaft and butt end to get more efficient use out of the entire stick. With added leverage at the butt end, it causes the shaft to twist, as well as flex in the middle, giving the player added power and spin on the puck than with the conventional stick. Due to the added twist in the shaft the puck stays on the blade a fraction longer giving the player more control of the shot.